Orchids Part 9

~Pleurothallis.~--A large genus of elegant, dwarf-growing Orchids for the intermediate house.

~Promenaea.~ _See_ ~Zygopetalum~.

~Renanthera.~--These showy species are natives of Tropical Asia and Malaya. They should be grown like Aerides and Vandas. _R. Imschootiana_ is a compact, free-growing species, with showy, crimson flowers.

~Restrepia.~--A cool-house genus usually grown with the Masdevallias, and requiring similar treatment.

~Rodriguezia.~--This genus includes the species usually called Burlingtonia in gardens. Suspend the plants in the intermediate house.

_R. secunda_ has rose-coloured flowers; most of the others are white, and they are generally fragrant.

~Rhyncostylis.~--These are warm-house plants, which are known usually as Saccolabiums in gardens. The commoner species is _R. retusa_, with fine racemes of blush-white flowers, spotted with purple; and the blue _R.

coelestis_. The cultivation is similar to Aerides.

~Saccolabium.~--The Saccolabiums should be grown in a warm house like Aerides. _S. bigibb.u.m_ and others of its cla.s.s are pretty, dwarf species, with yellowish flowers spotted with purple and having a white lip.

~Sarcanthus.~--Allied to Saccolabium, and having similar cultural requirements.

~Sarcochilus.~--The species of Sarcochilus need to be grown in Sphagnum-moss in the intermediate house.

~Satyrium.~--Terrestrial Orchids chiefly from South Africa, needing greenhouse treatment. The plants must be kept dry during the resting period.

~Schomburgkia.~--A strong-growing genus, requiring similar treatment to Laelias and Cattleyas. The best position for them is a sunny situation in the intermediate house.

~Scuticaria.~--The Scuticarias are handsome, bulbless species, with long, terete, pendulous leaves, and showy, yellowish flowers, blotched with purple. They should be grown on rafts, or in baskets suspended in the intermediate house.

~Selenipedium.~ _See_ ~Cypripedium~.

~Sobralia.~--The species of Sobralia are strong-growing, terrestrial Orchids with reed-like stems, requiring abundance of water during the period of growth. Intermediate house. _S. macrantha_ and its white variety are best known.

~Sophronitis.~--A dwarf genus, best known by _S. grandiflora_, which has scarlet flowers, and has been used for crossing with Laelias and Cattleyas. All the species are cool-house plants, needing cultivation in pans or baskets suspended from the roof. The hybrids succeed best in the intermediate house.

~Spathoglottis.~--Terrestrial Orchids of similar growth to Bletia, requiring a p.r.o.nounced resting period. Intermediate house. Rest dry.

~Stanhopea.~--A fine genus, with large, pendulous, wax-like flowers of aromatic odour. They should be grown in baskets in the intermediate house. Rest rather dry in a cool house or vinery.

~Stauropsis.~--Stauropsis should be grown with Aerides and Vandas. The genus is best known in gardens by _S. lissochiloides_ (_Vanda Batemanii_) and _S. gigantea_.

~Stelis.~--The plants in this genus possess similar growth to the dwarf Pleurothallis, and require the same treatment.

~Stenoglottis.~--_S. fimbriata_ and _S. longifolia_ are South African terrestrial Orchids, needing similar conditions to Disa.

~Tetramicra~ (_Leptotes_).--Dwarf species with white flowers, having rose labellums. Intermediate house.

~Thunia.~--A section of Phaius with erect, terete stems and deciduous leaves. Grow them in a warm and moist house, but keep them cool and dry during the resting period.

~Trichocentrum.~--Dwarf, evergreen South American Orchids. Grow in pans suspended in a shady part of the intermediate house.

~Trichopilia.~--An ornamental, epiphytal genus, including Pilumna, the white, fragrant _T. fragrans_, and its variety _n.o.bilis_, representing that section. _T. suavis_ is one of the showiest species. All are worthy of a place in collections. Intermediate house.

~Trichosma.~--_Trichosma suavis_ is a pretty, cool-house species, with white, fragrant flowers.

~Trigonidium.~--There are several curious species of Trigonidium, with the sepals usually developed and arranged differently to Orchids generally.

Intermediate house.

~Vanda.~--The genus is one of the largest and most interesting, and, like the other large genera, it may be divided into several sections. The largest-growing and best-known species are _V. tricolor_ and _V.

suavis_, which have white or yellowish flowers, spotted with purple, and without any distinguishing botanical feature between them. _V.

coerulea_ is one of the finest blue Orchids; _V. Sanderiana_ one of the handsomest; _V. insignis_, _V. lamellata_, _V. Denisoniana_, _V.

limbata_, and _V. Bensonii_ are all desirable kinds. _V. Kimballiana_, _V. Amesiana_, and _V. Watsonii_ form a distinct section, with fleshy leaves and erect spikes of pretty, white flowers, marked with rose in the two first, and requiring to be grown, where possible, in baskets suspended in the intermediate house. _V. teres_, _V. Hookeriana_, and their hybrid _V. Miss Joaquim_, have erect stems, bearing terete leaves, and fine, rose-coloured flowers. _V. alpina_, _V. cristata_, and _V.

pumila_ are pretty, dwarf species. All are generally grown together in the warm or East Indian house, but it is an open question whether the keeping of these plants and the Aerides and Saccolabiums continuously in the same house is not the cause of the unsatisfactory condition of many of them in gardens. Each section should be watched, and, when growth is completed, a change should be given to a cool, intermediate house for a couple of months. Aerides, Vandas, and Saccolabiums suffer most from being kept too hot and close in winter. After spring opens the amount of heat and moisture should be gradually increased. Directly they have flowered, the tall plants which have lost their bottom leaves should be lowered in the pots or baskets by being cut off at the base.

Dwarf-growing species should be brought well up to the light. _V.

coerulea_ grows well under the most dissimilar conditions, and with it, as with many other Orchids, there is more in finding a suitable place than in growing the plant. All require to be potted or basketed in Sphagnum-moss. Some growers add a sprinkling of leaves. The _V. teres_ section may be planted in Sphagnum-moss in a warm corner of the house, or against the end of the house. If grown in pots, three or four should be potted together and trained to a stout stick or teak rod.

~Zygopetalum.~--Under Zygopetalum, several distinct sub-genera are included. The largest-growing and showiest species include _Z. Mackayi_, _Z. crinitum_, and other related species. These should be potted in peat, Sphagnum-moss, and loam fibre in equal proportions, with a sprinkling of leaves, and fine broken crocks added. During the growing season occasional waterings with weak, liquid manure should be given; and, after flowering, a rest with restricted water supply. Those that need repotting should be attended to before growth begins, but they will remain satisfactory for years in the same pots if carefully treated.

There are many hybrids, especially of _Z. maxillare_, which should be treated like the species. _Z. rostratum_ requires a warm, moist house.

The Promenaeas include _P. stapelioides_, _P. Rollissoni_, and _P.

xanthina_. These should be grown in shallow pans, either for suspending or placing on a shelf near the gla.s.s of the roof.

~Bollea~, ~Huntleya~, ~Pescatorea~, ~Batemannia~, ~and~ ~Warscewiczella~.--These are sectional names for a leafy cla.s.s, with rudimentary pseudo-bulbs. They are frequently mismanaged. The plants should be grown in the potting materials recommended for epiphytal Orchids, and surfaced with Sphagnum-moss. Being evergreen, and with no superabundant vitality, they should be kept moist all the year, but liberally watered when growing. A moist corner of the intermediate house, or warm house, should be selected for them, each plant being raised on an inverted pan or pot. When grown in the warm house, a rest should be given in a cooler house after growth is completed, but the plants must not be dried off. They may be propagated by division. All require shade. Botanically they are placed under Zygopetalum.

CHAPTER XXI

ORCHID HYBRIDS

It is impossible to enumerate the immense number of home-raised hybrids in the scope of this book. It must therefore suffice to name some of the princ.i.p.al genera which have been crossed, and a few of the best hybrids, from the garden point of view.

Too much cannot be said for the absorbing interest of raising hybrid Orchids, which is referred to at length on p. 67.

_Bra.s.savola Digbyana_ has been one of the most satisfactory parents, crossing readily with Cattleya and Laelia, and imparting to the hybrids its large flowers and fringed lip. _B. glauca_ has also been useful.

_Bra.s.so-Cattleya Digbyano-Mossiae_, "Wes...o...b..rt Variety," is ill.u.s.trated in Plate V.

Calanthes have been wonderfully improved, so far as the deciduous, winter-flowering kinds are concerned, by intercrossing, commencing with _C. Veitchii_ (_rosea vest.i.ta_) and now including all shades from pure white to blood-red.

Cattleya, Laelia, Sophronitis, and Bra.s.savola have produced by intercrossing numerous showy garden plants, some of them, as for example _C. Iris_ (_C. bicolor C. Dowiana_) and _Laelio-Cattleya callistoglossa_ (_C. Warscewiczii L. purpurata_), exhibiting great variation in the colour of their beautiful flowers.

Cymbidium has been enriched by the hybridist, the section Cyperorchis being merged in true Cymbidium. _Cymbidium Lowio-eburneum_ is ill.u.s.trated in Plate VI.

Dendrobium hybrids are among the most numerous and useful as decorative flowers.

Epidendrum has produced some satisfactory results, including _E.

O'Brienianum_ and _Epiphronitis Veitchii_ (_Sophronitis grandiflora Epidendrum radicans_).

Cypripedium has been so prolific that there are amateurs who cultivate them either exclusively or give the greater part of their accommodation to the genus and its hybrids, which may be numbered by the hundred.